Runway event highlights Lansing’s emerging designers

TUESDAY, August 16 — When people think of fashion, they usually think of glamorous New York runway shows. But Lansing has a budding fashion industry of its own. The Runway, a downtown Lansing fashion incubator, is teaming up Allen Market Place to introduce local designers to the public. Fashion at the Market, which comes to Allen Market Place tomorrow, highlights the evolving fashion industry in Lansing.

“The people that are aware of the runway are really excited about it. We have a lot of really genuine goodwill,” said Joe Carr, startup innovation manager at Lansing Economic Area Partnership, better known as LEAP. “People want to see something like this succeed. They want to see fashion; they want to see something exciting.”

The event will feature a mix of well-established designers and up-and-coming designers. Kaitlin Slack, Teresa Rapp, Michael Kelly and Tyler Mehigh will be showcase a variety of products, including travel wear and items made from synthetic fur, like suits and purses. All of the items featured will be available for purchase.

“We want to really give the designers some experience selling directly to consumers, getting feedback from people — what they like about the design, what features they might be interested in,” Carr said. “We also want to raise awareness that the Runway is an institution, to introduce new people to it and to the events that we have coming in the future.”

In addition to the runway show, the event will have live music and food vendors, including Good Eats Diva, Lansing Pasta Company, Teff-Riffic and Sweet Encounters.

While the main goal of the event is to give designers real-life experience, Carr also hopes the event will bring awareness to LEAP’s goals and motives.

“My hope is that (people) see there is a lot of things going on in Lansing, that we are an activity center,” he said. “There are a lot of people that maybe have entrepreneur ideas and don’t know where to turn. My hope is that they see there are resources available. We’re able to provide that kind of assistance, coaching and mentorship.”